Hidden Wife

When you Call my Name, There will be No Answer

Yui was able to eventually quiet her sobs to dull whimpers, which gave her the ability to hear there was no one keeping the door shut- or anyone in the room for that matter. She hesitantly opened the door and was relieved to find Subaru had left. She didn't know how long she had been alone, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was safe, even if only for awhile.

However, something didn't feel right. Even shough Yui felt relieved that the brothers were gone, she could feel as if something was calling out to her, begging her for help. Her fingers had a tingly feeling within them and it was trying to pull her in a certain direction. Yui, too drained to really protest, followed the sensation through the mansion like breadcrumbs.

She finally reached a door, a very familiar door. But, this time, the welcoming warmth felt like a fading spark, as if whatever was behind it was slowly fading into nothingness. Yui was about to panic and think the cold, angry woman was back to hurt her again, but nothing happened. Yui's heart was normal, minus the rapid beating, and her head didn't hurt. What she did feel, was loneliness, sorrow, and multiple other things Yui couldn't quite describe. One emotion that stood out the most in her buzzing mind, was grief.

Not wanting to make her knight feel this way any longer, Yui took a deep breath and opened the door. What she would've expected to be some storage closet was now a trashed room. The paintings on the walls were ripped and scratched, instruments thrown onto the floor in a rage, and broken glass covered the wooden floor.

Yui's ears quickly picked up on sobbing and wailing coming from the back wall of the room. The woman's cries echoed through the room and it made Yui's head spin. The woman was completely deranged, her hair a mess and her familiar blue robes sinched and folded in all the wrong places. Yui swallowed her fear and unease, before quietly approaching the woman. She couldn't help but feel excited; she finally gets to meet the woman who had saved her far to many times. Yui laid her soft hands gently on the woman's shoulder, but the woman didn't really react.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks like a river and her palms were trying her best to wipe them away, but Yui pulled the woman into her arms, just like the woman had done for her far too many times. The woman made no move to detach herself from Yui. Rather, the opposite. She sunk deeper into Yui's own warmth. Her tears stained Yui's clothes, but she cared less.

The woman poured her heart out through weeps while her hands clutch onto Yui's sleeve. Yui began running her fingers through the woman's matted hair. The hair gel stuck to Yui's fingers like taffy, but again, Yui tried not to focus on it. It was only a dull reminder of how old this woman actually was.

After many moments of crying, trying to speak, and the crying again, the woman was able to keep herself from crying, if even for a moment. Yui grabbed a handkerchief off of the vanity to dab it under the woman's eyes. The black eyeliner and red makeup stained the fabric. Yui made a mental note to clean it later.

"Thank you, little miss..." The woman whispers, grateful that Yui cared so much. Yui hummed in acknowledgment, before asking "Why are you crying, ma'am?"

Her voice was so soft that the woman almost wanted to cry out in relief. Finally, her mind wasn't being strained even more by loud yelling from the boys. The woman shook her head, some of her hairpins falling out of her already messy hair. "I... where's my baby?" She asked as her panic began to rise once more. Yui looked at her confused.

"What baby?" Yui questioned, glancing worriedly at the courtesan. The woman took a deep breath and blinked a few times, before speaking again. "Nevermind, forget I asked anything, little miss" She answered. Yui really wanted to push her and ask what she was referring to, but she swallowed it down and refrained from asking.

"Are you their mother? The brothers I mean..." Yui asked. The woman's face became mournful as she stared at the wall. "...I was the closest thing they really had to one..."

Yui nodded. "What is your name? Is it finally time for you to tell me?" Yui asked, caressing the woman's hands to comfort her. "Just call me (name)..." She muttered and raised her head, some of her hairpins falling out. The name tasted like sweets when it left Yui's mouth a whispering repeat.

"..." Yui couldn't speak. she only stared at the woman. The woman's makeup was now entirely off her face, only a few smudges of paint left on her skin. The white paint revealed her natural skin tone; it was lacking any lifelike red undertones and her lips looked almost blue. Bags and dull eyes stared back at Yui. The woman Yui had gone to for comfort now looked like a shell of a person; corpselike and drained of life.

Yui almost wanted to cry. She had known the brothers could be harsh, but she never thought they could be this bad. She never thought they could break a person. (Name) looked as if she'd collapse any minute. "Something... wrong?" (Name) asked, her voice monotoned and just as lifeless as she looked.

"No! Um... no. Nothing is wrong" Yui panicked and shook her hands to make her point clear. She didn't want to bring even more stress to the already upset woman. Yui let out a deep breath and asked softly, almost motherly, "How about... we get you cleaned up!"

The woman looked down for a moment, before looking back up at Yui, and answering with a quiet "Sure...."

Yui gets up and helps (name) get onto her shaky feat before opening a side sliding door to reveal a nice bathhouse-like bathroom. She helped (Name) out of her upper layers and prepared some soaps and various towels while (Name) got into the tub. "Here, they're lemon scented!" Yui said happily, setting the tray of various soap blocks on the side of the tub.

(Name) smiled sweetly at Yui, like a proud mother. "Thank you, dear..." She whispered. She tilted her head back and allowed Yui to wash her hair, getting out any hair gel. Honestly, neither Yui or (Name) wanted to know how old the build up was.

After several minutes of scrubbing and washing, the tub was drained (name) was clothed in a comfier yukata. Yui went back to the bedroom for only a mere moment, but the second she grabbed the comb sitting on the woman's desk, a deafening crash shot through the room.